Issue #11: A Stargate, Abilene, Earthquakes, & AI-Developed Drugs

Who had half a trillion dollars of investment on their 2025, week 3 bingo card?

Anyone? No?

Good, neither did I.

OpenAI’s Stargate has rewritten the rulebook. The UK has greenlit its largest data centre campus to date. Abilene, Texas, has emerged as a veritable hub of the future. Open-source reasoning models have rivalled OpenAI, and TSMC has overcome some mild earthquake-driven disruption. The third week of the year has confirmed that the absurdity must go on.

Every week, I breakdown the moves shaping GPU computing, AI infrastructure, and the data centres that power it all.

Here’s what’s inside this week:

• OpenAI’s Stargate Project unlocks $500B to fast-track AGI infrastructure.

• Google invests $1B in Anthropic to strengthen AI safety.

• Lancium’s $2.3B clean campus and Crusoe Energy’s role.

• DeepSeek challenges OpenAI with its R1 reasoning model.

• TSMC’s Arizona fabs recover after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake.

• UK approves a £1B mega data centre to scale AI infrastructure.

• Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs set to launch its first AI-developed drug into trials.

Let’s dive in.

The GPU Audio Companion Issue #11

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Top Story: OpenAI Unveils Stargate Project to Accelerate AGI Development

OpenAI is opening a portal to AGI with Stargate, its $500B initiative to fast-track AGI development.

The Stargate Project is a new company intending to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI across the US. With initial equity funding from SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, Masayoshi Son as the chairman, and Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Oracle as the key initial technology partners, the scope and scale of the initiative are unmatched.

With plans to deploy $100B immediately and buildout already underway in Texas, the US AI team just put the rest of the world on notice.

Why this matters:

• $500B of investment over a 4-year period sets a new standard for investment in this space.

• As ridiculous as this project might seem, Masa as chairman means it has as good a chance as possible of succeeding, given his propensity for picking moonshots that actually work.

• Trump has thrown down the gauntlet for the rest of the world, especially Europe. The question is how will the rest of the world respond?

Read the full OpenAI Announcement here.

Google’s $1B Investment in Anthropic

Google doubles down on AI safety with a $1B investment in Anthropic.

Google has invested $1B in Anthropic, a leader in AI safety research and OpenAI rival, as part of its broader strategy to advance responsible AI development. Anthropic, which focuses on alignment and safety frameworks, will use the funding to refine AI systems and ensure they are safe, transparent, and beneficial. This move strengthens Google’s ecosystem while positioning the company at the forefront of AI safety initiatives.

Why this matters:

• Google’s investment underscores the growing importance of AI safety and alignment research.

• The funding aligns Anthropic’s goals with Google’s long-term AI vision, deepening their ecosystem.

• By supporting safety-focused organisations, Google could be preparing for regulatory scrutiny while maintaining an edge in innovation.

Read the full story on Ars Technica here.

Lancium Clean Campus Confirmed as Home of Project Stargate

Crusoe Energy is building the first facility at the $2.3B Lancium Clean Campus, home of the $500B Stargate Project.

The Lancium Clean Campus in Abilene, Texas, developed by Blackstone-backed Lancium, has been confirmed as the initial site for Project Stargate, a $500B AI infrastructure initiative led by OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Mubadala’s AI-focused MGX. The 1,100-acre campus will host ten data centres, with Crusoe Energy constructing the first facility, a 206MW data centre designed to support up to 100,000 GPUs on a single integrated network fabric. Financial backing includes a $2.3B loan from JP Morgan and a $3.4B joint venture with Blue Owl Capital and Primary Digital Infrastructure.

Why this matters:

• Lancium’s campus integrates renewable energy resources, creating a sustainable backbone for hyperscale AI infrastructure.

• Crusoe’s involvement solidifies the growing role of neoclouds as both a complement and alternative to traditional hyperscalers for AI workloads.

• The collaboration of OpenAI, Oracle, and global investors is a solid nod to how clean energy and AI are becoming deeply intertwined.

Read the full story on The Tech Capital here.

DeepSeek’s R1 Challenges OpenAI’s Reasoning Models

DeepSeek’s new R1 reasoning model rivals OpenAI’s best-in-class performance, signalling growing competition in advanced AI capabilities.

DeepSeek has unveiled its R1 reasoning model, claiming near-parity with OpenAI in key reasoning and logic benchmarks at a significantly lower training cost. Designed to handle complex, multi-step tasks, R1 is optimised for enterprise-grade use cases like financial analysis, legal reasoning, and scientific research. What sets R1 apart is its focus on transparency and interpretability, a response to growing enterprise demands for explainable AI.

Why this matters:

• R1’s launch intensifies the rivalry with OpenAI, signalling that open-source reasoning models are the next major battleground in AI.

• By prioritising explainability and integration, DeepSeek is positioning R1 as a viable choice for enterprise clients with high-stakes applications.

• Compatibility with major cloud platforms lowers deployment barriers, encouraging adoption across regulated industries like finance, law, and healthcare.

Read the full story on Artificial Intelligence News here.

TSMC Taiwan Fabs Recover After Earthquake

TSMC’s fabs are operational again after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake briefly disrupted operations.

The earthquake, which struck near Taiwan’s Hualien region, led to a temporary pause in TSMC’s operations while inspections were carried out. Within hours, the company confirmed that all fabs were fully operational, avoiding significant delays or supply chain issues.

Why this matters:

• TSMC’s stability is critical in an increasingly fragile global chip supply chain.

• The swift recovery prevented disruptions in global AI chip production but likely raised questions about the concentration of manufacturing in one area.

• With TSMC also beginning 4nm chip production in the new Arizona fab last week, we could see an acceleration is the diversification of manufacturing capabilities.

Read the full story on Data Center Dynamics here.

The UK Approves £1B Mega Data Centre

The UK has greenlit a £1B mega data centre in Hertfordshire, set to be one of the largest in Europe, though its ultimate operator remains a mystery.

The project, spearheaded by DC01 UK Ltd, has secured 400MVA of power capacity from the National Grid, although connections won’t be fully operational until 2029. The site’s location offers proximity to national and international fibre optic routes, which makes it highly attractive for hyperscalers. While the identity of the future occupant has not been disclosed, DC01 UK claims the space is designed for a "known hyperscaler," with AWS, Google, Microsoft, and Meta declining to comment.

Why this matters:

• The facility’s proposed massive (for the UK) IT load capacity is a critical addition to meet the growing demand for AI and hyperscale workloads in the UK.

• Incorporating renewable energy and advanced cooling aligns with industry and UK policy shifts towards greener infrastructure.

• Following the AI Opportunities Action Plan, this approval reinforces the UK’s commitment to becoming a global leader in AI infrastructure.

Read the full story on The Register here.

Isomorphic Labs’ AI-Designed Drug Trials

Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs plans to launch its first AI-designed drug trials by the end of the year.

Demis Hassabis, founder of Isomorphic Labs and CEO of Google DeepMind, announced the milestone at the World Economic Forum. Targeting oncology, cardiovascular, and neurodegeneration diseases, Isomorphic’s AI tools aim to cut drug discovery timelines by a factor of 10.

Why this matters:

• Reducing drug discovery from 10 years to 1 year would revolutionise the entire healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.

• Partnerships with pharma giants show AI’s growing usefulness in high-stakes, research-intensive industries.

• Isomorphic Labs potentially hints at how hyperscaler-backed ventures will reshape traditional sectors in the AI-driven future.

Read the full story in the Financial Times here.

The Rundown

Another week of acceleration.

OpenAI’s $500B Stargate project gives Crusoe a big seat at the big table. Google placing a $1B bet on Anthropic shows AI safety is still a focus. DeepSeek launched a reasoning model to rival OpenAI. TSMC recovered swiftly after an earthquake disrupted its operations. The UK approved a £1B mega data centre. Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs is accelerating drug discovery timelines with its AI tools. We live in exciting times.

Any predictions for what to expect from week four?

Reply to this email and let me know!

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